Oxfordshire grower Robert Smith is urging John Deere to give farmers a fair deal over ongoing signal problems with Starfire 3000 and older 6000 series GPS receivers.

Mr Smith, farm manager at Glebe Farm in Bampton, first noticed technical issues with the Starfire 3000 dome on his John Deere 6190 R tractor, when he went out in a field to apply fertiliser one morning in mid-March.

After being kicked out of the autosteer guidance system, he rang his dealer to report the problem.

See also: John Deere urged to fix Starfire receiver problems

Mr Smith was told that the problems were “atmospheric”, but they have persisted. John Deere has since revealed that newly introduced 4G network frequencies are the cause.

John Deere has offered to buy back the Starfire 3000 receiver, but Mr Smith says this only covers a fraction of the cost of buying a new, upgraded receiver.

Farmers Weekly news editor Philip Case visited Mr Smith on his farm to see the problems at first hand.

Get in touch if you are a farmer also experiencing problems with Starfire 3000 and earlier 6000 domes. Email: philip.case@markallengroup.com or call 07522 946 049.